Tobacco smoke filter



United States Patent 3,279,478 TOBACCO SMOKE FILTER Harry Silby, 8000 SW. 19th St., Miami, Fla. N0 Drawing. Filed July 17, 1964, Ser. No. 383,491 7 Claims. (Cl. 131-266) This invention relates to 'a new and improved filter for tobacco smoke and more particularly relates to a filter material which may be used with cigarettes, cigars and pipes for filtering the smoke and removing various objectionable ingredients from the smoke before the smoke reaches the mouth of the smoker.

As is well known, tobacco smoke contains a number of harmful irritating gaseous compounds and finely divided solids which may be alkaline or acidic in nature. Included in these gaseous and solid materials are tar, phenol, carbon dioxide, nitrogenous substances, methanol, acetic acid, and nicotin. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a filter composition for smoke resulting from the combustion of tobacco which will remove a substantial portion of these harmful and irritating materials.

A further object of this invention is to provide a filter which removes substantially the injurious ingredients in tobacco smoke and yet will not adversely affect the taste of the smoke.

A further object of this invention is to provide a method of making a tobacco smoke filter which is an absorbent for the noxious combustion products of tobacco.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent on reading the following description.

According to the present invention, it has now been found that the ground roots of the carob tree and the ground outer covering or rind of the roots of the mangrove tree may be eflectively employed as filter elements for tobacco smoke. More specifically, it has been discovered that tobacco filter elements made from selected portions of the root of the mangrove and carob trees exhibit a porosity that makes them admirably suited for filtering out the objection-able components of tobacco smoke. Moreover, tobacco filters made from the materials and method disclosed herein also exhibit a resiliency which prevents undesirable packing of the filter composition that would unduly restrict the passage of air and smoke therethrough. For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following example which is given by way of illustration. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details set forth in the example.

Example I The roots of the mangrove tree (Rhizophora mangle) were soaked in a 1% solution of sodium chloride for three hours. The roots were then removed from the solution, rinsed thoroughly with water, and the ri-nds or outer coverings removed from the inner cores of the roots. The roots were thereafter dried in air [501 two hours. The mangrove root coverings and roots of the carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) were then immersed for 24 hours in a 15% tincture of Hamamelis (witch hazel) which contains 0.5% of a softening agent such as Versene (Sequestrene NA which is ethylenediaminetetracetic acid tetracalcium salt obtainable from the Geigy Company. The root coverings and roots were then removed from the tincture and dried. The dried coverings and roots were thereafter ground, namely, between 12 to 15 mesh. The resulting ground product can be used directly as the filter element in a cigarette. This product, tmlike charcoal which has to be enveloped in a cotton wrapper, can be used in direct contact with the tobacco after which a small piece of cotton is attached to prevent the root particles or granules from falling out of the end of the cigarette.

Example II The filter particles of the present invention were made in the same manner as disclosed in Example I above except that the Hamamelis solution was sprinkled over the ground root particles so as to saturate the same instead of immersing the root particles in the solution.

Example III The effectiveness of the filter composition of the present invention can be established by the use of a modified smoking apparatus as hereinafter described. A tobaccowater extract was prepared by immersing the tobacco from 12 cigarettes in distilled water for 24 hours in a flask. At the end of this period the extract was observed to be of black-brown coloration. This flask was connected to a gas bottle by appropriate glass tubing and the gas bottle was half filled with the filter composition of this invention. Heat in the form of a Bunsen burner was applied to the flask containing the extract until the extract began to boil. The vapors of the boiling extract were then led into the gas bottle so that the vapors were released below the level of the filter composition therein. A second gas bottle was connected by appropriate tubing to the first gas bottle to collect the condensate which formed as the vapors from the flask passed through the filter medium in the first gas bottle. The boiling of the tobacco extract continued until about 2 inches of condensate had collected in the second gas bottle. The heating was thereafter discontinued, and the apparatus was dismantled for the purpose of examining the condition of the filter composition. The filter composition was observed to have -a very obnoxious tobacco odor while the filter itself, upon squeezing, produced blackdark brown droplets of a strong odor. The condensate in the second gas bottle was then checked and found to be neutral and devoid of any odor. A

Although this invention is particularly applicable to the use of the ground roots of the car-ob tree and the ground outer coverings of the roots of the rnangroove tree in cigarette filters, it is also useful for the treatment of tobacco smoke resulting from the combustion of tobacco in pipes and other similar devices. Accordingly, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the above mentioned specific examples, numerous modifications being possible within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tobacco smoke filtering composition which consists essentially of (1) the ground roots of the carob tree and (2) the ground outer coverings of the roots of the mangrove tree.

2. A tobacco smoke filtering composition which consists essentially of roots of the carob tree and the outer coverings of the roots of the mangrove tree in ground form wherein passes through a 12 mesh screen.

3. A tobacco smoke filtering composition which consis-ts essentially of roots of the carob tree and the outer coverings of the roots of the mangrove tree in ground form wherein 100% passes through a 12 mesh screen but is retained on a 15 mesh screen.

4. A filter tip for cigarettes comprising ground roots of the carob tree and the ground outer coverings of the mangrove tree.

5. A filter tip for cigarettes comprising ground roots of the carob tree and the ground outer coverings of the roots of the mangrove tree wherein 100% passes through a 12 mesh screen.

6. The improved method of treating tobacco smoke resulting from a combustion of tobacco during the act of smoking comprising bringing the tobacco smoke between the burning tobacco and the mouth of the smoker into contact with ground roots of the catch tree and the ground outer coverings of the roots of the mangrove tree whereby noxious substances of the tobacco smoke are selectively absorbed.

7. The improved method of treating tobacco smoke resulting from the combustion of tobacco during the act of smoking comprising bringing the tobacco smoke between the burning tobacco and the mouth of the smoker into contact with ground roots of the carob tree and the ground outer coverings of the roots of the mangrove tree wherein 100% passes through a 12 mesh screen whereby noxious substances of the tobacco smoke are selectively absorbed.

No references cited.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

M. D. REIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERING COMPOSITION WHICH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF (1) THE GROUND ROOTS OF THE CAROB TREE AND (2) THE GROUND OUTER COVERINGS OF THE ROOTS OF THE MANGROVE TREE. 